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Hello all.I have been reading the posts where people have been trying to read meaning into e-mails from potential employers and they are left scratching their heads as to if they are actually rejected for the position. That's not fun.

So, people out there... what's the worst part of the job search for you?

I'm going to say for me it's having to lie to my current co-workers about going to interviews because my husband is seeking better employment and using my vacation time to do so. I like my job and I'd like to use my vacation for more pleasurable experiences.

Secondly, waiting and waiting for responses. I do an initial screening for a position, then wait to hear for the phone interview, do the phone interview, wait for the onsite interview, then wait for the final verdict of if I'll get an offer.

Misleading co-workers is a close second, though. It still pains me to think that co-workers from my previous position might have negative thoughts about me because I left. I really enjoyed working with them and have nothing but positive memories of my time there.

For me, the long period of uncertainty. I'm in academia, and I spent 2 years looking for my first faculty position, and the uncertainty my job search created was especially hard on my spouse, who had a junior faculty position the same place where I was a postdoc. We knew we were moving on because I could not secure a faculty position there, but the uncertainty that comes with a dual search was nerve-wracking. Also, unlike the other posters, we could not hide our search so everyone knew we were leaving, and that made my husband's job difficult at times.

1. Being told I didn't have "previous industry experience" especially from people who had less experience than myself when they first started looking after their degree. The classic one I remember was from some idiot who said to me quite arrogantly, "well what makes you think you can do this position?"

"Some men see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and say why not""If you think research is expensive, try disease." - Mary Lasker

RGM wrote:1. Being told I didn't have "previous industry experience" especially from people who had less experience than myself when they first started looking after their degree. The classic one I remember was from some idiot who said to me quite arrogantly, "well what makes you think you can do this position?"

That is so typical of the inexperienced interviewer. All the "hard ball" questions seem to come from the jerks. You need to remember that they are just as uncomfortable with the process as you are, and they ask these kinds of questions as a positioning ploy.

Just move past it. They may have a vote, but it won't be the deciding one,

Dave

"I don't care how much you know, until I know how much you care."Theodore Roosevelt

RGM wrote:Thanks Dave, what do you mean by it was a positioning ploy? To catch me off guard or something during the interview?

No, I believe the junior interviewer feels the need to ask a few "hard ball" questions like this one in order to establish the pecking order in the room. He or she is the person doing the interviewing. They are uncomfortable, you are uncomfortable, and the way they set up the hour or whatever is to ask a tough one; for example, to say "I'm the boss here."

Dave

"I don't care how much you know, until I know how much you care."Theodore Roosevelt